Moving On
by The Supreme
Summary: It has been a year since the defeat of Demise. A year since Skyloft discovered about the Surface. A year since everyone's lives began to change, and everyone began to grow up. Everyone but Groose; he's still stuck in the past. He's still seen as the same bully as he was before. But maybe he doesn't want to be that guy anymore. Maybe he just wants to move on too.
1. Chapter 1

**Moving On**

**How's it going folks? Here's my newest story, _Moving On! _Ever since I played Skyward Sword, I've wanted to do a post-game story, but focusing on Groose. Because Groose is one of my favorite supporting characters in the series; the dude has a great character development, going from the cliched bully to a pretty awesome heroic sidekick. Plus he has to be one of the funniest characters ever designed by Nintendo. But anyways, I'll cease my endless rambling. On with the Show!**

* * *

><p>Groose sighed dramatically as he rode his Loftwing through the sky, a dejected expression on his face.<p>

It had been almost a year since Link and Zelda had settled the Surface. Almost a year since Zelda discovered her identity as the avatar to Hylia. Almost a year since the Goddess Statue sunk through the clouds and returned to its rightful place on the Surface. Almost a year since all of Skyloft and beyond was changed forever by the revelation of world below the clouds.

Since then, a few more people had cautiously ventured down to the Surface, exploring the surroundings and praying at the now grounded Goddess Statue. No one had decided to fully settle on the land along with Link and Zelda just yet, though several small homes had been built around the area near the Sealed Temple in case anyone needed shelter and couldn't return to Skyloft. Several other buildings had also been constructed; among them included a small research hut that Owlan used to study the encyclopedia's worth of data and scientific knowledge that could be found all around them; a warehouse for any items or supplies that were needed when on the surface; a fire-pit and common area to cook food and converse; and a medicinal hut in case of injury or ailment. Though most people were still wary of the surface world, they beginning to grow more accepting of living under the clouds, rather than above.

Who knows, maybe in a few years they may all settle permanently on the Surface and establish a kingdom for themselves.

Of course, that wasn't the only thing that had changed in the past year. Since then, more and more people seemed to flock around Skyloft, due of course to their hesitant curiosity of the Surface. The town had nearly doubled in size, now nearly a thousand strong on the small island. Of course, this meant more crowding on the island, which required expansions to the island to be made. To many people's surprise, it was Groose who proposed the idea of making a man-made island connected to main island to solve the crowding issue. He had even drawn up several blueprints, showing how the supports would be made on several of the smaller satellite islands that surrounded the main island. He'd even proposed constructing a few more buildings into the underside of the island, similar to how Batreaux's house was.

Almost everyone was stunned by Groose's knowledge of architecture, and even moreso by his planning and talent for construction and engineering; most people considered him more of a buffoon whose only talent was his brute strength. Ironically, it was Link and Zelda, the people who had once believed this more than anyone else who supported his ideas and acknowledged his brilliance.

Things had indeed changed, especially between them; after the adventure on the Surface, Groose had finally accepted that Link and Zelda were meant to be together. It stung a little, but even he could see how madly the two of them were in love. Besides, it was hard to compete with a guy who took on a flamboyant demon sword and the master of all evil just to save the girl he loved. Even though it still hurt a bit, however, he didn't let that stop him from being happy for the two of them.

He had grown much closer to the both of them. He had established a genuine friendship with the two of them, he stopped picking on Link... mostly, and he stopped chasing after Zelda... mostly. He had even built a nice little home of his own next to theirs for when he would visit them on the Surface. The three of them grew truly close, as he had helped them convince more people to explore the Surface and establish connections between the Skyloftians and the races that lived on the Surface.

Alas, for all of the good and happy events that had been occurring since Demise's defeat, Groose couldn't help but feel a little depressed. All around him, everyone else seemed to be growing up, while he felt like he was still staying the same.

Pipit and Karane had both been made knights, with Pipit even being made a Lieutenant after only 4 months as a knight. Not only that, but their relationship had gotten even more serious; Karane had moved in with Pipit (who had left his mother's house and bought a small house on an island not too far from the Lumpy Pumpkin), and apparently he was even preparing to propose to her.

Fledge's newfound strength had given him a newfound sense of confidence. He no longer put up with people picking on him, and he had improved both his flying skills and his combat skills, on top of already having a great knowledge of Skyloft's history and culture; Horwell had even taken him on as his apprentice, hoping to eventually have him become an instructor at the academy. His newfound confidence had even gone so far as to give him the courage to ask out Kina, who immediately accepted, starting a surprisingly sweet relationship between the two of them.

Cawlin had had some difficulty getting over Karane, so he had taken to writing poetry. He found he had a profound talent for it, excelling at writing in general. His writings were getting pretty popular even outside of the island, and he had even begun to write a novel. Of course, this didn't completely mend the hole in his heart from Karane's rejection. No, that came from Peatrice - the two of them comforted each other in their respective heartaches and quickly grew closer. It wasn't long before the two of them started dating as well.

Groose sighed again from atop his loftwing. That was the worst part of all of this: everyone else seemed to be pairing off, developing relationships and falling in love, whereas he kept being the same single, useless Groose. He hadn't graduated from the Academy yet, and despite the remarkable ideas on the man-made islands he presented, no one was taking him seriously. They still only saw him as Groose the Bully. Heck, the only one who was still the same as before was Stritch, and to be honest, he never seemed that unhappy anyway.

Groose was sudden taken from his thoughts by the shrill sound of his Loftwing screeching in fright. Blinking, he nearly cried out himself as he nearly crashed into another loftwing, lurching his loftwing to the side to avoid a collision. However, it appeared he was quite unlucky today, as no sooner did he avoid hitting the other loftwing did his loftwing slam into the top of a tiny island, colliding with the soil and landing with a heavy crash. Though neither Groose nor his loftwing were injured, they both clearly shaken.

As he sunk to his knees to catch his breath and calm himself, he heard a voice cry out from above him.

"Hey, are you alright?!" the voice shouted, its owner stumbling onto the island clumsily after leaping off of their loftwing. "You know, you should pay more attention to your surroundings, buddy. It's a big sky, you know. I mean, there are a million directions to go, you could've easily avoided me and..."

As the person continued to ramble on endlessly, Groose got a good look at the person he nearly ran into. It was a young girl probably about his age, though she was so short she could pass as a child. Sure, Groose was quite tall, but this girl couldn't be any taller than 4 foot 11. She had straight shoulder length hair the same color as the crimson sunset. Her bright green eyes shined with a boundless curiosity and excitement, and the freckles that peppered her cheeks seemed to dance as she continue to babble ceaselessly. She was wearing a pale blue blouse and a beige skirt that went past her knees. She was wearing a pair of heels, despite them doing little to extend her height.

"...I mean, even Levias himself could've avoided hitting that island, and he's... wait, are you even listening?!" The girl finally stopped her chatter, scowling silently at him instead.

"Uh, sorry?" Groose managed to sputter out. Honestly, he wasn't sure what to say. He wasn't sure how offended she'd be if she knew he had basically tuned out her entire conversation, so he kept his mouth shut.

"Well you should be!" the girl huffed, shoving a tiny finger into his face. "You nearly crashed into me and my loftwing, the least you could do is listen to me when I'm talking to you! It's common courtesy, you know!"

"Look, I'm sorry!" Groose shot back, growing a little irritated by the girl. Sure, he had almost crashed into her, but it wasn't like he did it on purpose. "I just have a lot on my mind, okay?!"

The girl raised a curious brow. "So you tried to crash your loftwing into mine because you're not used to thinking so hard?"

Groose felt a little vein pop in his head as he grew red in the face. "I think plenty hard!" he yelled furiously, hoping to startle the girl with the volume of his voice. However, she didn't seem the least bit intimidated. "Besides, you almost ran into me too, so what your excuse?" he added, this time keeping his voice slightly more level.

Now it was her turn to turn red. Clearly she wasn't expecting him to put any blame on her. "I was paying attention!" she protested, her voice raising by an octave. "I just... had a lot on my mind too..."

Groose wanted to complain about the hypocrisy of her statement, but figured it'd just lead to more yelling between the two of them. And honestly, if they got into an argument, something told him this girl would keep it up forever, so he decided to cut his losses. "Look," he tried to say calmly, though it probably sounded just as aggressive as before, "let's just agree that neither of us was paying attention. We're both to blame, okay?"

The girl huffed, seemingly trying to remain defiant, but quickly broke down. "Fine, I'm sorry for almost running into you," she reluctantly apologized. She stuck out her hand for him to shake.

"I'm sorry too," Groose returned the apology, grabbing her hand with his much larger one. "I'm Groose, by the way," he said, giving her a sheepish smile.

"I'm Nora," she said, returning his smile with a grin of her own. They shook hands before awkwardly settling into silence.

The silence remained between them for almost 3 minutes until Nora finally broke it. "Shouldn't we check to make sure your bird is okay?"

Groose waved his hand dismissively. "My bird's fine. There isn't another loftwing around as amazing as mine."

Nora snorted, obviously disagreeing. "Yeah right!" she exclaimed. "My loftwing Duva could fly circles around your silly bird!"

"Is that a challenge?" Groose wondered, getting in close to her face. He practically had to hunch over just to meet her at eye level.

She met his gaze with equal intensity. "Bring it on," she declared confidently. "You're looking at the best flyer in all of Caeloft."

Groose raised a confused eyebrow. "Caeloft? Where is that?" he asked, never having heard of the place.

"It's a little island just beyond the Isle of the Goddess. It's only a little ways away from Skyloft." she explained as if it was the obvious thing in the world.

"Well how many people live at Caeloft?" Groose asked curiously. If she was the best flyer in her entire village, she _had _to be pretty skilled.

Nora suddenly looked rather sheepish. "Uh... 11." she stammered out.

"That's it?!" Groose exclaimed. "Of course you'd be the best flyer there then! You're probably the _only _flyer there!"

"That's not true!" Nora protested futily. "My dad flies too... sometimes."

At this, she suddenly gave a downcast look. "When he's not too busy ignoring my existence," she muttered under breath bitterly, though Groose could hear it perfectly.

This was a rather sudden change. The girl who had before seemed so excitable and confident, now suddenly looking rather sad and disappointed. She had the same look to her that Groose had had before; that look that said that she, just like him, felt like she was being left behind by everyone else. Like no one else could anything else besides the aspects that showed the worst of her.

Groose suddenly felt sympathy for her. He didn't know what had happened between her and her dad, or why she looked so sad, or really anything about her, but he still could see that she was feeling downhearted, and he could relate to that.

Deciding to cheer her up and bring back the excited motor mouth from before, Groose spoke up. "Hey, enough with the moping, Noisy!" he clapped her on the back, nearly shoving her to the ground. "We've still gotta settle which of us is the better flyer, don't we?"

"My name's Nora, _**Goose**_," she retorted, putting as much emphasis on mispronouncing his name as possible, "And if you're really in that much of a hurry to lose, then let's do this then!" Despite her challenging words, she had a delighted grin on her face, signalling that Groose had indeed managed to cheer her up once more.

Groose confidently strode up to his loftwing, who seemed to have recovered rather quickly and had been watching the exchange the two rather intently. Combing his pompadour haughtily, Groose smirked. "We'll be able to beat you and your loftwing easy."

"Nuh-uh," came her retort.

"Uh-huh."

"Nuh-uh."

"Uh-huh."

"Nuh-uh."

"Uh-huh."

"Just shut up and let's settle this then!" Nora finally cut off their childish stand-off. They were nearly nose to nose, Nora's green eyes peering into Groose's golden ones. A challenging smirk appeared on both of their faces as their stepped away from each other.

They both mounted their loftwings, and Groose instinctively combed his pompadour. He had to look nice for his victory lap.

"Here's the rules," Nora explained, "First one to Skyloft wins. No cheating, no trying to cut the other person off, and NO CRASHING into each other!" She put a lot of emphasis on the last one.

Groose simply rolled his eyes and prepared his loftwing. They were ready to win. Suddenly, he had a thought. "Let's make this race more interesting."

Nora looked confused. "Interesting how?"

Groose smirked. "The loser has to treat the winner to a meal at the Lumpy Pumpkin," he betted smugly.

Nora blinked. "But I'm not hungry," she said in an innocent voice, "So why would I have you pay for a meal I wouldn't want?"

"You're not gonna win, so what does it matter?!" Groose retorted hotly, readying his loftwing.

"Sure I will," Nora replied with a childish grin. "You ready?"

Groose nodded.

"Okay, then... ready... GO!"

Instantly, the two loftwings took off from the island, zooming across the sky furiously.

The two loftwings darted through the sky, maneuvering sharply to gain an edge on the other. However, it seemed to be futile, as the two birds remained neck and neck. Groose quickly directed his loftwing to fly higher, hoping to gain an altitude advantage against his opponent. Unfortunately, it seemed like Nora had had the same thought, as her bird too began to ascend, soaring higher and higher as they tried to outdo each other.

However, Groose wasn't surprised by the fact that she could keep up with him so easily; no, it was the fiery look of determination on her face that startled him. She looked fierce, confident, and downright incredible; he hadn't seen a look like that on anyone besides Link, during the Wing Ceremony.

It was clear that this girl was giving it her all to win.

Of course, Groose wasn't going to make it easy for her.

Pulling his loftwing into a nosedive as they began to approach Skyloft, Groose felt himself whiz ahead of Nora. However, the euphoria he felt at passing her up was only momentary, as she too pulled into a nosedive, quickly catching up to him. The two birds continued to fly like lightning towards the large island, one again at a deadlock; at their current rate of speed, they would surely crash into the island if they didn't pull up quickly.

However, both Groose and Nora were too stubborn to give up just yet; this was a test of wills. Whoever cracked first would lose.

The island continued to rapidly approach, and Groose could sense that if he didn't pull up immediately, he'd surely crash his loftwing into the island and seriously injure both himself and his bird. Glancing over at Nora, he was stunned to see that, though she still bore a determined expression on her face, she now also held a look of pure exhilaration, a broad grin decorating her features as she beamed. She didn't seem to have an ounce of fear in her.

Groose knew he couldn't keep it up. He pulled his Loftwing out of the nosedive, barely avoiding the solid ground of the island. Nora let a triumphant laugh, pulling her loftwing out of its dive as well and landing on the island next to the great lighthouse an instant before crashing. Groose's loftwing landed beside hers only a moment later, but Groose dismounted with a defeated look.

Nora gave him a smug look, positively glowing. "Told you I'd win," she sang, a wide smile gracing her cheeks.

Groose simply grumbled under his breath, pouting a little in childish frustration.

Nora giggled, patting him on the back. "Hey, don't be such a sore loser," she chided him, keeping her bright and happy smile, "Besides, that was _awesome!_"

Groose gave her a perplexed look. "What do you mean?"

Nora rolled her eyes, but her ever constant grin remained. "Come on, don't tell me you didn't think that was an incredible race. I honestly wasn't sure if you were gonna beat me or not until the end there."

"Well, I didn't think you'd be crazy enough to risk crashing and hurting yourself over a silly bet," Groose stated simply, earning a frown from the tiny redheaded girl.

"Hey, I'm not crazy, I just really don't like losing!" She protested, playfully kicking Groose in the shin. Of course, even if she intended for it to only be playful, it still hurt.

Groose gave her a glare for kicking him, but otherwise dropped it. "Well then, a deal's a deal," he sighed before gesturing towards the Lumpy Pumpkin in the distance. "I guess I should treat you to that meal then?"

Nora chuckled again. "I told before we started, I'm not hungry. I guess you'll just have to treat me later." Groose could've sworn he saw a devious glint in her eyes; he didn't know what she was planning, but even after only just meeting her, he could tell it probably wouldn't end well for him.

"Are you sure?" He asked, an insistent plea in his voice. He actually didn't have a lot of money on him, but he didn't want the hassle of having to wait for her to decide to cash in her "prize".

She nodded, giving him a genuinely nice smile. "How about we meet up tomorrow for lunch at the Lumpy Pumpkin?" she offered. "I'll be plenty hungry then. Besides, what with you almost crashing into me and then nearly forcing our birds into _another _crash, I think our birds have had enough of a scare for today."

Groose returned her smile, unconsciously combing his pompadour in the process. "I don't think either of those events were entirely my fault, but whatever. If you really want to see me again that badly, I guess I'll humor you." His grin broadened as her face instantly heated up.

"Th-that wasn't it at all!" She exclaimed, looking quite flustered. "Like I said, I just want to make sure I get my money's worth when you buy me lunch!"

Groose laughed loudly as he rolled his eyes. "Sure, whatever you say. You'll rid yourself of that denial eventually; they always do." He once again ran his hand through his hair, giving the petite girl a playful smirk.

Now it was her turn to roll her eyes. "Someone's got a crush on his mirror, it seems," she commented dryly. She turned back towards her loftwing, stroking the massive bird's back before hopping upon it. "I'm gonna head back home, so you can continue admiring your... charm," she stifled a laugh at that, "or whatever it is you usually do. And remember; you're treating me to lunch tomorrow! Don't forget, or I'll find you. And you don't want me to find you!"

Groose snorted and simply waved his hand. "Yeah, yeah, I got it. Whatever."

As her loftwing took off, he could hear Nora cheerfully call out, "It was meeting you, _Goose_!"

Groose snorted to himself, but didn't bother to correct her. It would probably be futile anyways. He waved goodbye to her, smiling faintly.

What an odd girl. And he had just agreed to go on a date with her.

He really hoped he didn't regret this.

* * *

><p><strong>And that concludes chapter 1! So, what did you think? Good? Bad? Ugly? Let me know what you liked, didn't like, whatever! I'll post the next chapter soonly.<strong>

**Until Next Time, **

**~The Supreme~**


	2. Chapter 2

**Moving On**

**Hello all! I'm back with another chapter! I'm a bit sad that I only got one review on my first chapter, but I suppose it's better than nothing. If you even clicked on this story at all (even if by accident), I say thanks, because I really appreciate anyone who reads my story, even more so if they enjoy it and review or favorite it. That said, I'd like to give a big thank you and virtual high five to my friend Zepora, who reviewed the last chapter and has been giving me ideas and support for the story. Anyways though, I'll stop with my introduction and acknowledgment and just get started. On with the Show!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Zelda or any of its affiliated property.**

* * *

><p>Groose's jaw was practically touching the floor. His eyes were larger than loftwing eggs. His heart had practically stopped from sheer shock. He had helped fight off the Imprisoned, met a Demon Lord, found out he his childhood crush was a literal Goddess, and witnessed the rebirth of the Demon King, and yet nothing he had seen before could have prepared him for this.<p>

"587 RUPEES?!"

Pumm gave Groose a sympathetic look before nodding. "'Fraid so, Groose," he shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you."

Groose was speechless; the only sounds he was making were coming from his rapid wheezing. His face turned as red as his hair and he turned from his spot at the bar of the Lumpy Pumpkin to give a furious look to his companion.

Sitting innocently next to him, amidst a mountain of plates and bowls, was a sunny looking Nora, who had just finished her 13th piece of pumpkin pie and was childishly licking her plate. Finally seeming to notice the sudden coldness emanating from next to her, she turned face Groose, giving him a puzzled look upon seeing his murderous expression.

"What?" she asked, tilting her head curiously. She seemed oddly oblivious to his blatant rage. "Do I have something on my face?"

Groose sputtered for something to say, but it seemed like his anger was so great he couldn't even form words. All that came out from his mouth was "Y-ghihi-ju...ma... GAHA!"

Nora raised a confused eyebrow. "I'm not following," she said.

Finally, Groose gave up with words and just shoved the bill in her face. Blinking and pulling away a bit, she slowly read the amount of the bill.

"Whoa!" she shouted in shock. She gave him a stunned look, and he could finally feel himself calming down. At least she now seemed to understand his anger. "Groose, how much did you eat?!"

Groose was deathly silent for a moment. "'WHAT DID I EAT?!" He echoed at the top of his lungs, drawing attention from the rest of the patrons in the restaurant. Thankfully, there were only a few, otherwise Pumm would've thrown Groose and his gluttonous little friend out for causing a disturbance.

"I'M NOT THE ONE WHO ATE THEIR BODY WEIGHT IN FOOD IN UNDER AN HOUR!" Groose cried out in outrage.

"Well to be fair, I don't weigh that much so that's not a fair accusation," Nora pointed out calmly, missing his point entirely.

"YOU HAD 8 BOWLS OF MASHED POTATOES, 12 PLATES OF GRILLED CUCCOO, 9 STEAKS, A DOZEN EGGS, 18 BOWLS OF PUMPKIN SOUP AND THE _ENTIRE _DESSERT SECTION!"

"So?" she asked, shrugging as if the previous fact was completely normal.

"Sooooo," Groose extended the word out with as much emphasis as possible, "you just ate more than 3 grown men!"

The rest of the customers watched the duo's arguing with fixed fascination. Few people could get Groose so worked up without even realizing what they were doing.

"Are you calling me fat?!"

"No, it'd make sense if you were fat!"

"How would that make sense?!"

"Because you have the appetite of a Windfish!"

"I do not, you're exaggerating!"

Groose gestured wildly toward the tower of empty plates precariously perched on the counter in front of her. "That's not an exaggeration!"

Nora finally gave a huff and folded her arms, pouting childishly. "Whatever, I was just a little hungry is all," she mumbled under breath.

Groose rolled his eyes as he reluctantly handed Pumm his large fee. "Whatever you say."

Pumm smiled in triumph as he took the money. Seeing Groose exiting the restaurant with Nora, he called out to the boy. "You should bring that girl of yours around more often, Groose!" he chuckled at Groose's smoldering expression.

However, he didn't say anything in response, and trudged out the door. Pumm chuckled a bit more; it was a bit funny to see Groose finally meet his match in childishness. And despite what the big lug would say, it was clear that he was fond of his little companion.

As Groose closed the door behind him, he glanced at his tiny companion. She was standing at the edge of the island, peering down into the cloud barrier curiously. If she were any closer to the edge, she'd have surely slipped right off, but it didn't seem to bother her; she had a serene smile on her face, which was strange for a girl who, up until now, had appeared so animated and energetic since Groose had known her. Even so, he couldn't help but smirk softly to himself as she continued to stare blissfully off into space, completely oblivious to the world around her.

Surprisingly, he had actually managed to learn quite a bit about her while treating her to lunch. In addition to her ravenous hunger (probably the most surprising discovery this afternoon), he had learned that she was seventeen years old - a year younger than him, had three older sisters, her father was the leader of Caeloft, which was a small farming town, that she loved flying and being in the sky in general, and that she just loved to _go _places. Adventure, explore, just spend the entire day combing the skies in search for an undiscovered island - she loved to travel, to see things. She was certainly passionate about it too: she had gone on for almost the entire time they ate about her dreams of exploration.

Actually, Groose found it a bit endearing, seeing her so passionate. Maybe she wasn't quite as crazy as he pegged her to be. Walking up behind her, Groose poked her in the back to get her attention. Unfortunately, she was startled by this, and due to her close proximity to the edge, nearly fell straight off the island.

Thankfully, Groose grabbed her by the waist before she could fall, pulling her back onto the island. He let go of her, and her hand reached for her chest. Her heart practically beating out of her chest, she was silent for almost five minutes, which might've been a record for her, and the only sound out of her was her heavy breaths of terror.

She spun around and socked Groose in the stomach. "Don't scare me like that!" she screamed furiously, still looking rather flustered. Groose was startled by her punch and doubled over for an instant.

"Hey, I didn't think you'd freak out and almost kill yourself," Groose retorted hotly, though a smug smirk was plastered to his face. "Besides," he added, "consider this payback for making me pay almost 600 rupees for your meal."

"Hey, that was your own fault for making that bet," Nora pointed out. "Plus it was still mean of you to do that!" She glared childishly at him, her lips forming an angry pout.

Groose chuckled at her expression, causing her to hit him in the stomach again.

"Don't laugh at me!"

Groose grunted as he bent over again. "Well then stop hitting me!" he growled.

She simply stuck her tongue out at him in response and folded her arms across her chest.

Groose rolled his eyes before remembering why he wanted to get her attention in the first place. "Oh yeah, I was going ask you why you were staring so hard at the cloud barrier just then. You were really zoned out."

"And you thought ramming your stubby finger into my back would magically un-zone me out?" she asked sarcastically. "Good plan, Groose. You almost killed a bright, pretty, selfless young woman before her time." She put a hand to her forehead and sighed dramatically.

"Well, it was the first time I saw you acting so peacefully, so I figured there had to be an explanation for it."

Nora took another long look at the cloud barrier, and for a moment Groose expected her to zone out again. Then her voice came out, and in addition to its usual bubbliness and excitement, an ounce of longing was mixed into it.

"I was just thinking about the Surface. I've heard it's amazing - the ground goes on forever, and underneath it there's more earth that forms things called caves. Then there are trees that practically peak up over the cloud barrier, they're so tall! And I've heard that there are huge bodies of water called oceans, where thousands of kinds of fish live, and that go deeper than anywhere else in the world. I even hear that there are huge mounds of rock called mountains that go up even higher than the trees, and that some of them even spit fire! There's even supposed to be a million different kind of animals there, and even some creatures that can talk and think like humans! I think that sounds like such an incredible place." The entire time she talked, her voice grew more and more impassioned. Her adventurous and daring spirit was showing itself fully, and it was clear that she really wished to explore the Surface someday.

"Well, why haven't you gone down there already?" Groose asked curiously. It wasn't like there was a toll booth in the sky or something; just about anyone could venture down to the Surface if they wanted. He should know - he _wanted _to make a toll booth, to make a little money off of the tourism. Needless to say, Link and Zelda promptly vetoed his request.

Nora suddenly went silent, and a shadow seemed to cast over her. Even if he had only known her a day, Groose instantly knew something wasn't right; she was rarely ever this quiet, and she _definitely _never looked this downhearted.

"I'm sorry if I-" Groose began to apologize frantically, but was cut off by Nora.

"My father thinks the Surface is made up, so he's forbidden me from going down there," she stated in a flat voice.

Groose blinked. When were people ever saying that the Surface wasn't real? Sure, they believed that before, but he, Link and Zelda had been spreading the word about the Surface for almost a year, not to mention the story of Link's adventures (and his own adventures too; Groose made sure to add his own exploits whenever possible) spread like wildfire, and soon the entire sky had heard of the Hero of the Skies (and Groose the Hero too!).

"Well, I can tell you for a fact that the Surface is real," Groose declared adamantly. "Your dad's just plain wrong!"

Nora turned her head to face him, a scowl on her face. "And I'm guessing you've been to the Surface, Mister Adventurer?"

"As a matter of fact, I have," Groose replied coolly, cutting off any more remarks from Nora, whose eyes widened at his statement. "In fact, I helped _discover _the Surface!" He boasted, giving off a loud guffaw afterwards.

Now Nora looked doubtful. "You big liar. I heard that some guy named Mink discovered the Surface after chasing his girlfriend down there or something like that."

"Well, his name is Link, and yeah, he discovered it first," Groose tried to explain without sounding like a fake, "But I came right after him! You see, he went to rescue this girl Zelda, you see, and he didn't know she was **my **girl, so he went down to save her, and while I training to go down to save her, he scouted the place out for me!"

"I heard this guy was like a knight prodigy or something, and took on hundreds of monsters by himself," Nora said, raising an eyebrow. "Are you telling me this was all really you? Because you don't look very 'Monster-Killery'."

"Well, uh..." Groose began to stumble over his words, "I didn't exactly do all that PER SAY, but I did help the guy out! I even made myself an awesome contraption down there, the Groosenator, and used it to save him from a big ugly monster. So you could say I'm a bit of a hero too."

Nora was silent for a moment, before bursting into fits of hysterical laughter. She nearly collapsed to the ground, holding her stomach as she continued to laugh like a crazy woman. "Yeah, you're a real hero, Groose!" she struggled to say between breaths. "You'd totally knock them dead!"

Groose grumbled under his breath. "I don't see what's so unbelievable about it... I helped..."

Nora finally seemed to get control of herself after about a minute or so, and gave Groose a giant grin. "Well, you certainly know how to tell a good story, I'll give you that Groosey," she chirped brightly, patting him on the back before making her way towards the pier, preparing to call her loftwing.

"I tell ya, it's the truth!" Groose cried indignantly, but Nora seemed to brush it off as more foolish boasting.

"Whatever you say, Groosey," She said in a patronizing voice, causing a vein in Groose's temple to nearly burst from the head.

"I can prove it to ya!" He shouted, just as she was about to dive off the platform and onto her loftwing.

She stopped, and gave him a skeptical look. "How are you going to do that, Oh Great Yarn-Spinner?"

"I can show you something I picked up from the Surface, and you can even ask anyone - they KNOW I've been to the Surface and what a big-shot I am!" He explained. "All we gotta do is fly over to Skyloft and I can prove to you that I'm a real life hero."

Nora still looked unconvinced, but decided to humor him. Besides, if this was all a set up, she could just make fun of him for it later. She already had at least 20 jokes in her head so far. "Alright, lead the way, Hero." she gestured towards Skyloft, and the two leaped off the platform and onto their Loftwings, soaring towards the large island in the distance.

After about five minutes, during which they engaged once again in a heated race to the island, once again won by Nora to her great pride, they landed at the foot of the Academy. Nora looked up in awe at the huge building; she had been to Skyloft before, but she had never actually seen the Academy up close. She had been home-schooled on Caeloft, due to its small population, and she had often heard of how colossal the Knight Academy appeared - after all, it w_as _the head office of Skyloft as well.

Groose snapped her out of her awestruck demeanor by once again poking her in the back, once again earning him a hard punch to the gut. As they walked through the main entrance, Groose could hear Cawlin and Stritch cry out as he entered.

"THERE YOU ARE!" They shouted in unison, looks of concern and terror written on their faces as they practically smothered the much larger boy in a tearful embrace. "We thought something happened to you!"

Groose looked absolutely confused. "Uh... not that I'm not totally okay with the hero worship and all, since I am such a great and wonderful leader, but _what _exactly did you think happened to me?"

Stritch immediately spoke up, tears in his eyes as he stuttered out an explanation. "W-well, we had j-just come back from the Bazaar, and we wanted to see if you'd want to hang out with us. So we went into your room... AND YOU WERE GONE!"

"...And why is that so surprising?" Groose inquired, not getting what was so astonishing about him not being in his room.

"SINCE WHEN DO YOU GET OUT?" Cawlin shouted hysterically, practically blowing his nose into Groose's shirt as the latter shoved him away in disgust. Behind him, he could hear Nora struggling to keep herself from laughing. He was impressed; he would've assumed she'd have already been laughing hysterically in their faces by now.

"I get out plenty!" Groose retorted furiously. "I just... haven't had much to do."

"Well, what were doing that was so important that you made us think you were kidnapped and sacrificed to some big scary Surface monster?" Cawlin asked irritably.

"I went out to lunch at the Lumpy Pumpkin," He shrugged casually, before sticking his thumb in Nora's direction. "I had to buy a meal for _her._" The way he said 'her' made it sound like he was describing some great, ravenous beast that consumed everything in its path. In the last aspect of course, he was right.

Looking past him, Cawlin and Stritch seemed to finally notice her, and both dropped their jaws simultaneously.

"SINCE WHEN DO YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND?!"

Groose and Nora's face instantly shifted into looks of horror and disgust. "We're not dating!" they protested fiercely.

"We just met yesterday, and because of a stupid bet, I had to buy her lunch. That's it!" Groose explained in a serious voice that clearly spelled out that he did _not_ want any arguing.

Thankfully, neither Cawlin nor Stritch were known for their courage, and they quickly quieted down.

Groose's face suddenly lit up, as if he had just thought of an idea. "Hey guys, I helped discover the Surface, right?" Groose shouted randomly, causing the two boys give him puzzled looks.

"Yeah, why?" Stritch asked in confusion.

"Because she doesn't believe that I did," Groose jabbed his thumb to Nora, who in turn threw a glare up at him.

"Just because your friends say that you did doesn't mean I believe you," Nora stated stubbornly, wiping Groose's smug grin off of his face. "They could just be playing along."

Groose groaned at her stubbornness. "Fine, I'll PROVE that I've been to the Surface." Grabbing her tiny hand in his, he pulled her across the hall into his room. The entire time she began to protest loudly, wailing that she could walk herself and didn't need his 'big stubby paws' dragging her along.

As the door to Groose's room slammed shut, Cawlin and Stritch, still standing in their original positions, gave each other odd looks. "So... what happened?" Stritch questioned, clueless.

Cawlin shrugged. "No idea."

* * *

><p>Nora whistled as she looked around Groose's room. It wasn't nearly as messy as she expected it to be; she was expected a flood of dirty clothes ankle deep, towers of plates and trash spilling over the desk and tables, and a fine coating of dust to envelop the entire room. But to her surprise, the room was actually fairly tidy. His bed was neatly made, his desk was littered with a number of knick knacks (was that a teddy bear? She'd have to remember that if she ever needed to blackmail him), and a set of weights lay strewn in the corner next to a large punching bag. It was what covered the walls, however, that surprised her.<p>

The first thing was a large blueprint of a strange contraption she'd never seen. It had a set of wheels that were attached to a large platform, on top of which a gigantic spoon-like instrument was held. What anyone would need with a spoon that big was a mystery to her, but she found it incredible that Groose had apparently been the one to come up with the design. It could just be that he borrowed the blueprint from someone, but she doubted it was the case; something about it's crude scribblings seemed to scream "Groose!"

There were a few other interesting blueprints hanging on the walls, but what was even more fascinating was what covered the wall just above his bed.

"So I'm guessing this is what you wanted to show me?" Nora said in wonderment. She was speechless.

It was a vast hand-drawn map of the Surface, with little crude sketches and markers, presumably to note important landmarks. In the center of the map was a vast forest, a sea of green that cleared away every now and then to reveal a wide open plain or a deep chasm. In the center of the forest was a drawing of an exaggeratedly large tree, probably meant to symbolize a particular important tree. However, at the edge of the forest was a huge stone structure, a crumbling ruin that was surrounded by large walls and in the center laid... the Goddess Statue? She had heard that it had fallen from the Sky only a year ago, but she had assumed that it was destroyed - after all, how could something like that survive an impact on the ground?

Of course, the map contained an assortment of other incredible details; at the other edge of the forest lay another large building, which Groose explained was known as Skyview Temple. Beyond the forest was a large body of water known as Lake Hylia, which apparently housed an entire ecosystem under the water! On the other edge was one of those huge earth spikes... Mountains? No, because Groose had said this one spit fire, so it must be a volcano. It also apparently had a bunch of caves and lakes of lava that surrounded and ran through the path to the volcano. At the summit was another large temple, and according to Groose, there were even caverns that went _through _the volcano! Finally, there was a huge ocean of sand - a desert, as it was called. All along its features, there seemed to be ruins and collapsing structures, though the map seemed to indicate certain areas with small circles surrounding them. Did that mean they were still active? Who knew? In the central area of the desert lay an exceptionally vast expanse of ruins, with another large circle surrounding it. Finally, at the edge of the desert was a huge circle that surrounded an empty plain of sand, dotted only with a handful of small islands.

The map was remarkable; Only someone who could've been to the Surface could've possibly recorded all of this. Not only that, but the crude drawings and the handwriting was the same as the blueprints, and it was clearly Groose's style (He had even wrote at the top of the map 'Map of Grooseland'). She couldn't deny it; this was clearly proof enough that Groose _had _indeed been down to the Surface, and quite a lot too, if he could compile this much information.

"Okay fine," she huffed, giving a defeated smile, "I believe you. You couldn't have made _that _up." She gestured to the map. Then she smirked teasingly "You're _waaaayy_ too unimaginative for that."

"I am too plenty imaginative!" Groose countered, but he returned her smile anyways.

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Let's not get into this," Nora stopped him. "Because now I have a mission for you!"

Groose stared blankly at her. "Mission?"

She nodded, a grin spreading across her face. "You're going to take me down to the Surface and give a tour of everything you can!"

Groose continued to stare blankly. "Didn't you say that your father doesn't want you to go down to the Surface?" He raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Well, now that I've confirmed that there _is _a Surface, there should be no problem," she stated matter-of-factly. "Besides, I'm sure what he doesn't know won't hurt him."

Groose blinked in surprise. "You mean you won't tell him?" he sputtered.

"I just said what he doesn't know won't hurt him, didn't I?"

"But won't you get in trouble if he finds out?"

"Yes, and that's why the key to my master plan is that he doesn't find out."

"And what, pray tell, is this master plan of yours?"

"We go down to the Surface and don't tell him. Duh."

Groose was silent for a solid three minutes at that statement. It was so simple, so stupid, so lazy of a plan - Heck, you probably couldn't even call it a plan - but it obviously had little going against it. Unless someone told her father she was on the Surface, and by the sounds of it no one she knew had ever ventured down to the Surface, she wouldn't be caught.

Groose sighed heavily. "Well, it's a stupid plan, but I guess I can help you out," he conceded. He then flashed a cocky grin. "Besides, I _am _a big shot down on the Surface, so I could definitely show you all the cool spots."

Nora snorted in return. "Well, you'd better do a good job guiding me," she warned, trying to sound threatening but coming off as more childish and silly than anything else. "Because if I get lost in the woods, or chased by some big scary monster, I'll make sure you pay."

Groose let out an involuntary laugh. Nora scowled at him. "What?! I'm tougher than I look! I bet I can take you down!"

Groose laughed even harder at this. "I'd like to see you try," he challenged.

Nora gave a determined smirk. "Fine." Without any other warning, she lunged at the unprepared Groose. Taken aback at the girl's surprising speed, Groose stumbled backward. Standing up slowly, with a giggling Nora clinging to his back, before Groose knew it Nora was on his shoulders, hitting him on his head and pulling his hair rather violently.

"Ouch!" He yelped as she yanked a small clump of his fiery pompadour from his scalp. "Hey, that hurt!"

"It's supposed to hurt!" she shot back, laughing as she clung to him childishly, almost like a small animal in a tree. Groose tried to remove her from his shoulders, but she simply continued to clutch his hair tightly.

"Get off me!" He shouted, finally getting a hold of her and wrenching her from his back. However, before he could do anything else, she grabbed his hand and bit it.

"Ow! Hey, no biting!"

"Then put me down!"

"No!"

"Fine!"

"Hey, no kicking either!"

"Shut up you wimp!"

"I'm not a wimp! You're just playing dirty!"

"Hey, don't blame me if you can't take it!"

Standing in the hall just outside Groose's room were Cawlin and Stritch, looks of horror on their faces.

"What are those two doing in there?!" Cawlin shrieked quietly, his imagination running wild from the loud noises emanating from inside.

"I think Groose was lying to us about her being his girlfriend," Stritch grumbled under his breath, shocked by what he was hearing.

"Well, I certainly didn't expect _this _from Groose," Cawlin said to Stritch, turning to walk back to their room.

Stritch nodded. "I didn't think Groose was into that kind of girl. I guess we were wrong."

As he said that, the two heard another shout from behind the door. "Hey, you're making a mess now!"

"Hey, it's kind of a given you're going to make a mess when you're moving around so much!"

Stritch's eyes bugged out when he heard that and Cawlin's jaw dropped as another crash ensued. What on _Earth _were they doing?!

Suddenly, the door burst open, and out tumbled Groose and Nora, the latter laying on top of Groose.

The pair looked up from their spot on the floor, confused at the scandalized looks they were being given by Cawlin and Stritch.

"What?" Nora asked obliviously. "Groose, your friends are looking at me weird!"

Groose also gave them a puzzled look. "Uh... what's with the strange looks guys?"

Stritch refused to look at the two of them, his face burning as he continued to imagine what had went on behind that closed door. Cawlin, though also quite embarrassed, was brave enough to ask what was on his mind.

"What in Skyloft was going on in there?!" He asked in a shrill voice. Apparently subtlety was not his strong suit.

Groose and Nora, picking themselves up from the ground, gave each other another confused look. "What do you mean?"

Cawlin suddenly looked extremely sheepish, refusing to make eye contact as his face burned. "Well, we heard a lot of shouting and crashing..."

Understanding passed through the two, and Groose answered his sheepish friend. "Oh, that. Well, to put it simply, Nora jumped me."

Once again, the two boys' jaw dropped as their faces expressed disbelief. Even more scenarios began to pass through their heads, each one worse than the last. "W-what?!"

Groose nodded. "Out of the blue. She's a lot fiercer than she looks," he commented, not seeming to recognize his friends' misunderstandings.

Nora nodded with a proud smile. "You bet I am!" she chirped.

"W-well, how long have you two been doing this?!" Stritch questioned frantically.

Nora and Groose exchanged another puzzled look.

"We just met yesterday," Nora stated, "So this was the first."

"What!" Cawlin and Stritch shrieked.

Groose gave the two another incredulous look. "What's the issue?" he asked. "It's not like we were any danger. Besides, she's the type of person that makes these kind of things a common occurrence."

Cawlin and Stritch were speechless. Finally, after about a minute, they seemed to compose themselves. Stritch began to walk away, muttering something about how he couldn't look at Groose the same any more, but Cawlin stayed behind, still a bit stunned. "I-I'm surprised Groose," Cawlin stuttered, still letting imagination roam free. "I didn't think you'd like that kind of girl, to be honest."

"What are you talking about?" Groose asked, "I said before, she's just a friend. I'm not into her like that."

At that, Cawlin finally seemed to lose it. "THEN WHY WERE YOU TWO DOING _THAT_?!"

"Doing what?!" Groose asked in frustration. Behind him, Nora looked equally irked. "I told you, she jumped me and we had a bit of a scuffle. She thought she could beat me up, I said she couldn't, and we ended up fighting."

"I won, by the way!" Nora cut in, a proud grin on her face.

"You did not!" Groose shot back.

"Did too!"

"Wait!" Cawlin muttered quietly, "So... all that shouting and banging and noises was just you two duking it out?!"

"Yeah, what did you think we were doing?" Nora asked, turning away from her argument with Groose before they could resume their fighting.

Once again Cawlin became extremely sheepish. "Well, uh... I... I guess... I -We! Me and Stritch, Stritch and me... we thought you two were..." He trailed off, his face beet red.

"We were what?" Groose prodded, a dangerous look in his eye.

"Uh... we thought you two were doing _that..._ Y'know..." Finally, Groose and Nora seemed to realize what Cawlin was saying.

Both Groose and Nora's faces turned as red as their hair, though in Groose's case his face was almost purple, as he seemed more angry than embarrassed.

"YOU IDIOT!" He shouted, hitting the smaller boy on the top of the head painfully. Cawlin yelped in pain. "WHY WOULD YOU THINK THAT?! THAT'S THE FIRST THING THAT WENT THROUGH YOUR HEAD?!"

"I'm sorry!" he wailed as Groose hit him again. "How were we supposed to know-"

"WHY WOULD WE BE DOING THAT?! I TOLD YOU WE JUST MET YESTERDAY!"

"You could've been working fast, how should we know?!" Cawlin bawled, running desperately down the halls as the furious red haired wrecking ball that was Groose chased after him with a murderous look in his eyes.

As she watched them, Nora couldn't help but laugh despite her embarrassment at the misunderstanding. Though she would never admit it, she couldn't help but find Groose's immature and juvenile personality funny and even a bit endearing.

Maybe he wasn't as a big of an oaf as she thought.

* * *

><p><strong>All done! So, what did you think? Did you enjoy this chapter? It's only the second chapter, so there's not much of a plot yet, but rest assured, it will soon develop. So, tell me what you think, and if you liked it, Review, Favorite or Follow!<strong>

**Until Next Time,**

**~The Supreme~**


End file.
